Saturday, December 31, 2016

"Some Thoughts for the coming year" - December 30, 2016

Don’t we
all start the New Year with optimism? It
is the time of the year the gyms fill up, only to dwindle back to normal
traffic by late February.

And while
our thoughts today may go to parties, soon practical thoughts intrude. Like
getting ready to do our taxes, paying off those Christmas bills and organizing
ourselves a little bit better the coming year.

I started
using an app lately that helps me keep things straight. It is a journaling app. There are any number
in the Google Play and Apple App stores. I have not looked at many. The one I’m using is not syncing right, so
I’ll find another. Even so, I’ve been
impressed with its usefulness.

With it I
can jot a quick note. If I choose, it also records my location and the current
weather.Soon after I started using it, I
had my once-every-10-years lower back spasm. I tracked when I took pain meds
with it.

I also
track significant events in my day so that I can jog my memory to them later
on.

You could
use it as a journal is meant to be used, pouring out your heart for only
yourself to read. While that might be hard on a phone, there is a website for
the one I started using—although, as I said--not all the entries I made on the
phone are showing up in the web version.

My mother
made notes on a monthly calendar not only of appointments but significant
events. She kept those calendars for years. They helped years later when we had
to track certain events.

You could
also keep a note titled “Journal for Jan. 2016” on Google Keep and add to it
every day. At least I know it syncs
well. And then start a new note for each
month.

Keep is
one of my use-every-day apps. It is my grocery list and jot pad for information
I will likely move to another app later on.

It is
totally free and works with your Google account. I cannot recommend it more highly.

My other
everyday use app is of course Evernote. I’ve written ad nauseam about my online
file cabinet. It now has over 25,000 notes in it. Anything I see I think I should
keep a copy of, like receipts or web pages I may want to see again, I capture
to Evernote. Again, it is free for a basic level of service, and affordable for
the premium level.

Another
new app from Google could be a godsend for worrying parents. It is called Trusted Contacts and is now only
for Android but soon for iPhone too.

If Dad and
child both have it installed for example, and have accepted each other as a
trusted contact, Dad can ping the child through the app with “Where are you?” The
child can choose to decline to give the information or let the app provide
it. If the child does not respond for
five minutes, the app automatically sends Dad the location.

One person
can also proactively send their location if they feel they are in a dangerous
place.

This app
is not unlike ones some college campuses are using to help students be safe on
those late-night walks across campus. If
you have a loved one at college, ask them if their school has one and if they
use it.

Looking
for a way to cut down on your Google Play expenditures? Download Google’s App Google Opinions
Rewards. Every couple of days it will
pop up with a short survey. Generally they ask if you’ve been in a certain
business recently and what you thought of them. In exchange they pay you
anywhere from 10 to 45 cents. Sometimes zero, but that is rare.

Don’t lie
to them. Sometimes the business they ask about is non-existent; the question is
to test your reliability. And too, if you have location services turned on,
they know where you’ve been.

It's not
for those who covet their privacy, but for those of us knowing the amount of
data already collected about us. At least it lets us get some monetary value
for sharing information. I’ve made
almost $60 and used some to buy apps and rent streamable movies.

Stop now
and think about how you might like to better organize your life in 2017, and
how that powerful computer in your pocket might help.